


The Kind of Milkbread That Has Paws

by WatermelonWorms



Series: Oikawa Loves Milkbread [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Awkward Conversations, Cats, Comedy, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magic, No Smut, Oikawa Tooru Is Not a Morning Person, Oikawa Tooru is a Dork, Oikawa Tooru is a Good Friend, Oikawa Tooru-centric, Sugawara Koushi-centric, suga turns into a cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:21:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28601370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WatermelonWorms/pseuds/WatermelonWorms
Summary: Suga turns into a cat. Oikawa likes cats. Iwaizumi is annoyed. Daichi is worried.What could go wrong?
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime & Oikawa Tooru, Iwaizumi Hajime & Sugawara Koushi, Oikawa Tooru & Sugawara Koushi, Oikawa Tooru/Sugawara Koushi, Sawamura Daichi & Sugawara Koushi
Series: Oikawa Loves Milkbread [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2111898
Comments: 69
Kudos: 153
Collections: sugawara x oikawa





	1. Chapter 1

Suga was walking home from practice one evening. He was sore and every step he took felt like death itself was grasping at his body. It was kind of strange, he thought. He hadn’t gone too hard during practice, or not any harder than any other day at practice.

He really shouldn’t be feeling this way, and should’ve caused him concern, but he just brushed it off.

His mind wandered as he walked, barely paying attention to his surroundings. He was conscious enough to not run into anything, but not enough to truly know where he was going. 

He felt a sprinkle of rain on his face. He blinked. A drop of water that had caught on his eyelashes rolled down his cheek at the movement.

The cool feeling of water had startled him out of his odd stupor. He looked around at the unfamiliar street he was on.

Where had his feet taken him?

He cursed under his breath as the rain grew stronger. Stinging beads of water struck his face and exposed skin. He dropped his bag onto the ground, uncaring for the mud that had been made by the rain.

When he bent down to dig through the side pocket to find his umbrella, the strange and uncomfortable feeling came back. He gasped and curled into himself. He hadn’t even realized he was off balance until his body hit the earth next to his backpack.

He tried to stand back up, grasping at the brick wall of the building he was next to, but his effort was for nought. His vision turned into a vignette. He glanced around the street, looking for anyone to call out to, but no one was there.

He was alone.

His last glimpse of his surroundings was the stormy gray sky before the black around the edges of his vision overtook it.

When he woke up, the sky was still rumbling aggressively. The mud was now thick, and was plastered all over his body. His bag was still sitting next to him, but something was off.

It seemed larger than normal. Maybe it was just because he was laying next to it, he thought. He got on his hands and knees, and tried to get up on his two feet, but his center of gravity denied his mind's request. 

He glanced down at his hands, confused. He became even more confused when he saw, not human hands, but muddy paws.

He felt his breathing pick up, and blood rush in his ears. The only thing he could hear was his heartbeat.

He started running as fast as he could down the street. He had no idea where he was headed. His body seemed to be on autopilot. 

He ducked under cars, and weaved between the legs of startled pedestrians. He had probably made it about two blocks away before a shop window stopped him in his tracks.

The display wasn’t what forced his body to stop. No, the reflection of a small muddy kitten stopped him. He took a step closer, and in turn, the reflection also took a step.

The kitten had large, expressive hazel eyes which were currently fully opened in fear. He couldn’t tell what color the fur of the kitten was, for it was covered in mud that was being slowly washed away by the pounding rain.

He shivered. He was cold, lost, and afraid. 

He seriously couldn’t have turned into a kitten, right? 

Right?

Footsteps splashing through puddles pulled his gaze away from the window. A tall teenage boy in a hoodie looked down on him.

The boy had brown hair and eyes and glasses perched on his perfectly straight nose. Suga’s snout and eyes scrunched in uncertainty. This person looked familiar… 

Oh no.

He hadn’t recognized him at first because of the casual clothes and glasses, but the person standing in front of him was Oikawa Tooru.

The kitten hunched in on himself and pressed itself against the wall. The boy - Oikawa - blinked, staring down at the fearful kitten. He took a slow step forward and crouched, extending a hand to the trembling thing on the ground.

Suga didn’t know what to do. Should he hiss and run away? Should he stay put and hope Oikawa leaves him alone? 

While he was debating, Oikawa had already reached for him and scooped him into his arms. He pulled the kitten to his chest, cooing softly. He didn’t seem upset by the mud smeared on the front of his hoodie. He was only concerned with warming up the small cat before he got sick.

“Hey little buddy. How about we get you out of the cold” OIkawa was softly smiling down at the kitten. Suga was completely still. He’d never seen that soft expression on Oikawa’s face, and he also didn’t know how to feel about being carried to who knows where by a rival captain.

Oikawa began walking, gently rubbing the kitten's head, soothingly. He had never had a cat, but he was pretty sure they weren’t supposed to be completely still when being picked up by a stranger, so he was trying to give it as much comfort as he could while walking.

He assumed it was perfectly still because the poor thing was cold and afraid, which wasn’t completely wrong.

Suga’s mind was racing. He definitely was a cat, but how? Did the weird feeling he had after practice have something to do with this? How would he turn back into a human? Should he run away from Oikawa?

He only had an answer for the last question, and he wasn’t even sure if it was the right one. 

He was going to let Oikawa take him wherever they were going.

Maybe Oikawa would help him. Maybe he could somehow signal to Oikawa what was going on.

He didn’t know if it was a good idea, but it was the best plan he had.

Oikawa had turned into a neighborhood, and was now standing in front of a quaint house.

Must be his house, Suga thought.

Oikawa awkwardly fumbled him in his arms, so he could have a free hand to open the door. When he stepped inside he glanced around quickly, then shoved Suga into his hoodie pocket.

Suga gave a small yelp, and tried to stick his head out the pocket, but was shoved back in.

“Please be quiet, no one can know I brought you in here” Oikawa whispered urgently.

Suga immediately stilled. He didn’t know how it would look for the kitten to be doing what Oikawa asked, but Oikawa didn’t seem to care as long as he didn’t give them away.

He snuck up the stairs, and almost made his way to the bathroom when a woman's voice called out, “Tooru, why do you have mud on your hoodie?”

“Oh hey mom” Oikawa greeted his mother, awkwardly. “Uh, I tripped into a mud puddle?” he phrased it like a question, but from the retreating steps Suga could hear, his mother had bought the lie.

Oikawa went into the bathroom, locked the door, and set Suga into the bathtub. He pulled off his muddy sweatshirt and washed his hands in the sink before sitting on the closed lid of the toilet and pulling out his phone.

“Hey, Iwa chan” Oikawa started when his call was picked up.

“What did you do this time, Shittykawa.” Iwaizumi responded.

Suga was surprised to note that he could hear both sides of the conversation. Must be cats hearing.

“Oh, well, I- uh”

“Spit it out already!”

“Ok Ok! I found a kitten on the side of the road, and I took it home”

“You what!” When Oikawa didn’t answer, Iwaizumi continued. “You don’t know how to take care of a kitten, Idiot!”

“I know! That’s why I called you”

Iwaizumi sighed. “I’ll be there in five,” He said and ended the call.

Oikawa kneeled next to the bathtub, and picked Suga up. This time, he didn’t pull the kitten to his chest because he didn’t want to get mud on any more of his clothes than necessary. He held the kitten an arms length away from his body and set him in the sink.

“Let's get you cleaned up I guess” He turned on the sink to a trickle, making sure Suga’s head wasn’t under the flow. He maneuvered Suga so his back was under the water. 

Suga gave a startled meow that sounded pitiful to even his own ears.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Is it too cold?” Oikawa didn’t wait for an answer, well, obviously a normal kitten would be able to give one, and turned the tap so it was slightly warmer than room temperature.

Suga’s mind was pretty much blank as Oikawa gently massaged unscented soap into his trembling body. He’d never seen this side of Oikawa before. He had always seemed confident, uncaring, and arrogant to a fault. This gentle Oikawa with sweet smiles and soft spoken words of encouragement was new and startling. 

Oikawa was almost finished when there was a knock at the door.

“Open up, Oikawa. Your mom said you were in here”

Oikawa dired off his hands and unlocked the door. Iwaizumi stepped in, and relocked the door.

When he made his way over to the basin, Iwaizumi gave Suga a pitying look over. “It’s not looking to good”

“He” Oikawa corrected.

Suga decided to ignore that Oikawa had decided to check his sex. He didn’t need anything else to overthink at this moment.

Iwaizumi reached towards him and gave him wet fur a small stroke. “He looks pretty weak and scared. Has he moved at all?”

“No, not really.” Oikawa responded, hovering over Iwaizumi’s shoulder.

Suga realized that staying completely still and silent was not how typical kittens behave. He was probably scaring them. They seemed to think he was on death’s door based on the looks on their faces.

“Let’s finish cleaning him up. Being soaked cannot be helping him stay warm” Iwaizumi said, manhandling Suga so his frail body was under the water again. The bath was finished in silence. Iwaizumi was less gentle than Oikawa had been, but nothing he did hurt Suga.

When the tap turned off, Iwaizumi picked him up, and gently placed him in Oikawa’s arms who already had a towel waiting.

He was wrapped in the towel like a burrito, and was being gently rocked by Oikawa.

“He’s not a baby, Stupidkawa”

Oikawa pouted, but stopped his rocking. “Check to see if anyone is there”

Iwaizumi nodded, and opened the door, sticking his head out. “Coast is clear”

When Oikawa started towards the door, Suga caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Oikawa was holding a light gray kitten in his arms. The fur was the same color as Suga’s own hair.

Iwaizumi and Oikawa walked through the hallway quickly and ducked into one of the rooms, presumably Oikawa’s bedroom.

Oikawa sat on the edge of his bed, still holding the mound of towel and kitten, and Iwaizumi took the desk chair.

Suga felt the towel unravel slightly as Oikawa gently rubbed it along his body, trying to dry him off faster.

“What are we going to do with you?” Oikawa said to no one in particular.

“More like what are you going to do with him”

“Rude, Iwa chan!”

“Hey, I’m not the one who decided to take a kitten home”

“Well, did you want me to leave him there to die?”

“I guess not” Iwaizumi crossed his arms and bit his lip, looking to the ground in thought. “What are you going to do with him?”

“I want to keep him, he’s so cute” Suga felt himself be squeezed against Oikawa’s chest. He could feel the vibrations of Oikawa’s words through the towel. It was weird, but slightly comforting to be held so tightly by someone much larger than himself. “And if my mom won’t let us keep him, I guess I’ll take him to the shelter” The vice hold against Oikawa’s chest loosened. Suga looked up at Oikawa. The angle was kind of weird, but he could see the put out expression on his face.

“He is pretty cute,” Iwaizumi conceded. “What are you going to name him?”

Oikawa paused his drying off of the kitten, “Milkbread”

“Are you serious? That’s such a stupid name”

“Hey! Mean Iwa chan!”

Iwaizumi was about to respond when the door opened. The split second before the intruder spoke, Iwaizumi and Oikawa shared a horrified glance.

“What’s all the yelling- Is that a cat?”

“Uh, No!” Oikawa shouted. His face screamed guilty, and the kittens head poking out of the towel didn’t help his case either.

“Why did you sneak a kitten into the house?” Oikawa’s mother accused, hands on hips.

Iwaizumi looked like he wanted to melt into the chair, and Oikawa’s mother’s gaze wasn’t even on him.

“He was out in the rain, mom. I had to help him”

Oikawa’s mother sighed, then said. “We’ll talk about this later. It’s nice to see you, Iwaizumi kun”

“Uh, hello Oikawa san” Iwaizumi said, uncharacteristically shy. 

The door clicked shut as Oikawa’s mom left, and both teenagers sighed in relief. That hadn’t gone as badly as expected.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oikawa and Suga bond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kudos and comments last chapter!!!

Once Suga’s fur was fully dry, Oikawa’s mother had called him downstairs. He had handed Iwaizumi the unmoving kitten, and walked like he was headed to the gallows.

Iwaizumi and Suga couldn’t hear anything, even with Suga’s amazing new hearing. They sat quietly at Oikawa’s desk, Suga being held in Iwaizumi’s lap. His leg was bouncing up and down, but Suga didn’t mind. He was too busy worrying about the decision being made downstairs.

He really was dependent on Oikawa being able to convince his mother that he could stay. He didn’t know how to fend for himself. He didn’t even know where he was.

They heard footsteps on the creaky stairs, and both occupants of the rooms became stiff and looked to the door.

Oikawa stepped in, grinning like a mad man. “She said we can keep him for now”

Iwaizumi relaxed against the chair, and ran his fingers through Suga’s fur. “Good, I was worried we’d have to put him back outside”

“Grown attached to him, have you?”

“Shut up. He’s cute”

Oikawa made his way over to the desk chair where Iwaizumi was, and knelt so he was face to face with the kitten. “Well, Milkbread, you are going to be staying with me until further notice”. There was a dorky smile stretched across his lips. His eyes were almost fully shut because he couldn’t contain his glee.

Oikawa rested his chin on Iwaizumi’s knee, and circled his arms around the kitten who was sitting far too stiffly.

Suga was suddenly struck with mischievous inspiration. He tilted his head in a way that would’ve made his human form swoon, and batted at Oikawa’s glasses.

Oikawa jumped back, startled. His glasses were hanging off his face precariously.

Iwaizumi erupted in laughter at his friend's expense, and Oikawa shot him a dramatic dirty look.

“Hey! Don’t laugh at me”

“Come on, it was funny. And aren’t you glad he’s doing something other than sit silently?”

Oikawa’s face immediately lost all of the hurt that he had mustered, and his eyes gained an excited glint. 

“Good job, Milkbread! You are such a good kitty” Oikawa giggled and set his chin on Iwaizumi’s knee again. Iwaizumi, in turn, rolled his eyes, but allowed the touch.

The praise mixed with the new feeling of Oikawa’s gentle fingers rubbing at his chin and ears caused him to let out a small purr. It was completely on accident, and as hard as Suga tried he just couldn’t stop. If he didn’t have fur covering his face, he would’ve had a scarlet blush staining his cheeks, and maybe even his ears.

He eventually gave in to the feeling of Oikawa’s fingers and the vibrations running through his small body. He closed his large eyes, and tilted his head to angle it at Oikawa.

Oikawa let out a small “aw” that he almost didn’t hear, too lost in the new sensations. Iwaizumi couldn’t resist stroking Suga’s back.

The purrs running through his body doubled when Iwaizumi started petting him as well. He moved himself so he was laying down in the shape of a cat loaf on Iwaizumi’s lap.

He knew this situation was extremely strange, but he pushed all of his thoughts to the back of his mind and let himself enjoy the moment.

He could think later.

After a few minutes, the purring stopped, and Milkbread fully relaxed onto Iwaizumi’s lap.

“Is he asleep?” Oikawa whispered.

“Yeah” Iwaizumi responded. “Should we go to a pet store?”

“Probably. We don’t have anything that a cat would need.” Oikawa stood up, reaching for a clean hoodie. “Should we take him with us? I don’t want to leave him here, and the pet store down the street allows animals”

Iwaizumi shrugged. “If you want to”. He handed Oikawa the limp, sleeping kitten. Oikawa once again set the kitten in his pocket. This time, he made sure his pink nose was sticking out; he didn’t want to suffocate him.

They made their way out of the house, waving at Oikawa’s mom sheepishly. The rain had stopped, but it had left viscous mud and a dark sky behind.

They trudged through to the store, avoiding as many puddles as possible, but still getting mud on their shoes.

“We’ll have to be quick. It’s closing soon” Iwaizumi said as he opened the door for Oikawa.

They called to an employee, who made her way over. They asked her several questions about how to take care of a kitten, and the woman responded enthusiastically, while looking Oikawa up and down.

Her slight flirtations stopped when she noticed the nose poking out of his pocket. Noticing what had distracted her, Oikawa pulled out the kitten, who had just awoken. 

Suga blinked his eyes slowly, trying to get used to the bright, artificial light. He heard a female voice that he didn’t recognize. His eyes swept around the store before locking onto the girl he was being held out to.

She was making soft noises at him as Oikawa held him Simba style.

He let out a little meow of confusion, and Oikawa and the worker swooned even more. Iwaizumi was standing to the side, arms crossed, pretending to be annoyed, but the tug at the corner of his lips gave him away.

He was set in the woman’s arms, who was definitely more experienced at holding animals than Oikawa and Iwaizumi. She led them around the store, pointing at the necessary items, and the two boys would pick them up.

Suga glanced around the store curiously, and just let himself be carried around.

“He’s very calm, isn’t he?” The worker remarked.

“Yeah, we were wondering about that, actually” Oikawa said, looking slightly worried. “Do you think he’s sick?”

“I doubt it. He seems very alert, and he doesn’t look distressed, so he should be fine. Some kittens are just calmer than others”

Oikawa sighed in relief. The corners of his lips were upturned in a soft smile. “That’s good. We were worried”

After they paid, they waved goodbye to the worker and set off to Oikawa’s house. Iwaizumi was holding the bag so that Oikawa could concentrate on holding the fragile kitten.

They arrived at Oikawa's house and set up a litter box in the bathroom. They then set a small bowl of cat food in front of him.

Suga looked between the two boys staring at him and the bowl. 

Did he really have to eat cat food?

He internally sighed when the two boys did not stop watching to make sure he ate.

‘Well here goes nothing,’ he thought.

It wasn’t the most pleasing texture, but the taste was not as bad as he was expecting. After he took the first bite, Oikawa cheered for him.

Suga felt the urge to roll his eyes playfully. ‘Dork,’ he thought.

He took his time finishing the rest of the food. When the bowl was clean, Oikawa clapped, and he sat down facing Iwaizumi and Oikawa. The former was kneeling, and the latter was half kneeling with his right leg stretched out to the side.

‘Must be his injured knee’. He carefully made his way over to Oikawa, purposefully making eye contact with him, and curled up next to his knee, setting his chin right beneath Oikawa’s kneecap, on his shin.

Suga had heard that heat could help with injuries, and he was basically a living heat pack currently, so why not try to help Oikawa? Some members of his team would probably have considered trying to help with Oikawa’s injury treason or something, but Suga didn’t have any hard feelings with Oikawa off court. He considered himself more mature than a few of his teammates.

“Aw, Iwa chan. Look!”

“I can see it just fine, Shittykawa”

“He must know I’m injured. That’s so sweet” Oikawa’s face morphed into the puppy face emoji.

“It’s a cat, dumbass. Of course he doesn’t know you’re injured” Oikawa was about to protest, but Iwaizumi’s phone dinged and lit up. “Oh, I gotta get home. I’ll see you tomorrow” He gave Oikawa a rare, genuine smile before standing up.

“Bye, Iwa chan” Oikawa responded, also smiling when Iwaizumi bent down to give Suga a goodbye pat.

Iwaizumi left, and Oikawa stayed rooted on the ground, not wanting to disturb the kitten.

“Well, Milkbread, it’s just you and me now”. The kitten lifted his chin off Oikawa’s leg, and Oikawa took that opportunity to get off the floor. He scooped up the kitten, and sat down in his desk chair.

Suga settled on Oikawa’s lap while he did homework. He took glances at what work he was doing from time to time. He was curious about how good of a student Oikawa was.

Apparently Oikawa was a fairly smart student. Suga felt a little bad for being surprised by this, but most very serious volleyball players he’d met had…. not the best grades. He was currently writing an essay, and other than a few grammatical errors, it was pretty solid.

About an hour later, Oikawa’s mother knocked on the door. When Oikawa permitted her entrance, she stuck her head in.

“Tooru, it’s getting late. You should go to bed”

“Ok, I just need to finish this”

Oikawa’s mom was about to leave, but she stopped before the door fully closed. “Keep that cat in your room. I don’t want to be bothered by it”

“I’ll keep my door closed”

She nodded at that, and left.

“Don’t worry, Milkbread. She’ll warm up to you in no time” Oikawa stroked down his back. Suga closed his eyes, not really paying attention to the conversation.

After a few minutes, Suga was lifted off Oikawa’s lap, and was held in front of Oikawa’s screen.

“I finished, Milkbread. Do you want to proofread for me?”

Suga just blinked, and craned his head to look at Oikawa. He was a really weird guy. Suga wondered if the Oikawa he had seen during games was a facade, or if he just acted differently based on who he was around. It was probably a mixture of both, he concluded.

“Just kidding!” He said laughing. “I know you can’t read... Or can you?” He conspiratorially looked Suga over. “Blink twice if you can read”

‘Wow, this guy is strange. He probably believes in dumb conspiracy theories, no wonder there are pictures of aliens everywhere’ Suga thought. Well, he couldn’t really say anything in his position. He had been turned into a cat after all.

After a second of debating, Suga blinked twice, staring directly at Oikawa’s face. It was probably a bad idea, but he was curious as to how Oikawa would react.

Oikawa looked dumbfounded for a second, before a grin overtook his face. He looked like he was about to say something else, but His mother once again knocked on the door, and told him to get ready for bed through the door.

A pouty look crossed his face, but he set Suga on the ground, and made for the door. Before he left, he turned to Suga and said. “This conversation isn’t over”

Suga seriously couldn’t tell if Oikawa was just playing around, or if he actually thought Suga was a sentient creature. Oikawa was full of surprises so far. He guessed he would just have to wait and see.

He waited quietly for Oikawa to return, looking around his room. 

Seriously, why were there so many aliens everywhere? Even his phone case had aliens on it. He suddenly remembered the hoodie Oikawa had been wearing when he found him.

It also had an alien on it.

Oikawa’s obsession was definitely geeky, but it was also pretty cute, Suga found himself thinking. Who would’ve guessed the Great King was a nerd.

Oikawa came back, and changed into a loose T-shirt and, you guessed it, alien pants. Suga dutifully did not look, trying to respect Oikawa’s privacy. He turned around when Oikawa called his name.

“Milkbread, This is your bed alright?”

Suga walked over to the small cat bed. It was light gray, and looked pretty soft. He stepped into it, and was delighted at how comfortable it was.

Oikawa got up to turn the lights off and settle into his own bed, but was stopped when Suga put his front paws on his bed as high as he could reach. He started meowing insistently; he did not want to sleep on the floor, even if he did have a cat bed.

“You want to come on the bed?”

Suga increased the volume of his meows in agreement.

“Hmmm, I guess I can...” He took one of his two pillows off the bed and replaced it with the cat bed. He then picked Suga up because he couldn’t get on the bed himself, and set him in the cat bed.

Oikawa crawled to his side of the mattress and whispered, “Goodnight, Milkbread”

Suga gave Oikawa a goodnight whack on the head with one of his paws.

“Ow, mean, Milkbread”. But Suga knew he hadn’t actually hurt Oikawa, and started purring at the pouty expression he was surprised to be able to see in the dark.

Oikawa smiled when he heard the purrs, and closed his eyes.

Suga tried to sleep as well, but he knew he wouldn’t get much rest with all the thoughts running through his mind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oikawa makes questionable choices, and now everyone is worried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is actually unedited because I was feeling lazy. If you find any mistakes, feel free to let me know in the comments <3

Daichi was pacing around the room. Suga’s mother had just called him. Apparently Suga never came home after practice. His best friend would never just disappear like that. He always made sure his mother knew if he would be at Daichi’s house, or if he would miss dinner. He even made sure Daichi and coach Ukai knew when he was missing practice.

Not coming home was so unlike him.

Daichi’s brow furrowed. He looked at Suga’s contact in his phone. Suga hadn’t texted him since this morning. He seemed normal at school, but Daichi knew Suga was full of surprises. This just didn’t seem like something he’d do as a joke.

Whenever Suga pulled a rare prank, it never hurt anyone, and was always innocent fun. SUga wouldn’t scare them like that.

If Daichi was correct about his best friend, that meant either Suga was in trouble, or he meant to run away.

Running away also didn’t seem like him, but Daichi hoped that it wasn’t the other option. If something happened to Suga, Daichi would never forgive himself. He knew, logically, that it wouldn’t be his fault, but Daichi couldn’t stop the guilt eating at him.

Would Suga still be missing if Daichi had walked home with him?

He pressed the call button on Suga’s contact. His profile picture seemed to be mocking him. It was a picture that Suga hadn’t even known he’d taken. Suga was sat on the bench during their first game ever, laughing so hard tears were streaming down his face from a joke he’d forgotten.

Daichi wanted to smile at the memory, but the fear and disappointment when his call wasn’t picked up caused his teeth to dig into his bottom lip painfully. His eyebrows were scrunched together, and tears threatened to spill from his eyes.

When was the last time he’d cried? A year ago? Two?

He relaxed the muscles in his face, and closed his eyes, putting his face in his hands. One tear dripped off his chin. It was followed by many more.

Suga was woken up by an unfamiliar alarm. He opened his eyes in annoyance. He would’ve shrieked if that was a noise cats could make. He was laying next to Oikawa, who looked like a giant compared to himself. 

Apparently his dream about being turned into a kitten wasn’t a dream at all. Memories of before he fell asleep flooded through his mind. He remembered paralyzing fear that he had been staving off all day.

Questions had broken through the barricades in his head.

What am I going to do?

How do I turn back?

What if I’m stuck like this?

Am I scaring my parents? My friends?

Have they even noticed yet?

He built up another wall, even stronger this time. He needed to stay calm.

Maybe he could just ignore his thoughts and just enjoys his predicament. 

Another round of blaring noise from Oikawa’s phone made him want to smash the device. Oikawa just rolled over, snoring. He looked kind of gross asleep. His face was smushed in an unflattering way. His mouth was open, and his body was flailed out in a way that looked extremely uncomfortable to Suga. It really was a miracle that Suga hadn’t been pushed onto the floor.

Suga was annoyed to discover that he thought Oikawa’s uncomplimentary sleeping position was endearing. He really didn’t want to dig into that thought right now. He had more important things to worry about currently.

Like getting him to turn off that ungodly alarm.

He crawled out of his small cat bed, stretching out his back and yawning. He walked across the mattress to Oikawa purposefully. He put on a calculating face, waiting.

Once he deemed that Oikawa would not fling him across the room, he pounced. Oikawa screeched in an undignified manner as a small ball of fur and fury attacked his face.

Suga was standing on his chest, batting Oikawa with his paws. He was considerate enough to keep his claws from scratching him.

“Milkbread! I’m up! I’m up!” Oikawa sat up with a panicked face. Suga dropped onto the mattress next to him at the sudden movement.

Once Oikawa finally turned off the alarm, Suga purred in thanks.

Oikawa got ready for school mechanically. He didn’t look fully awake yet, and when he walked down the stairs his mother expressed surprise at how early he had gotten up.

Suga felt smug at that. The burst of mischievousness he had felt was definitely worth it. 

His new goal was definitely to mess with Oikawa as much as he could.

Once Oikawa had eaten his breakfast, he scooped up Suga from where he was sitting next to Oikawa’s chair, and ran up to his room to grab his backpack.

Suga was mentally preparing himself for a school day's worth of boredom. Oikawa would probably leave him in his room because his mother was definitely not fond of animals.

Oikawa slung his bag over his shoulder, and then paused, staring at Suga who was perched on Oikawa’s bed.

He bit his lip, thinking. Then scooped him up and placed him in the inside pocket of his school uniform’s blazer. Suga made a strangled noise of surprise. Was Oikawa going to sneak him to school?

Well that just made his goal of Mess With Oikawa easier. The pocket was actually pretty comfortable and spacious. He maneuvered himself so only his head was poking out.  
The blazer was unbuttoned, so he could see where they were going every few steps when the blazer flapped open.

Once they were safely out of the house, Oikawa took him out of the pocket and held him against his chest.

He was quiet on their walk to school, but he was humming off tune while stroking Suga absentmindedly. About halfway through their walk, they met up with Iwaizumi and two other third years from Seijoh.

Matsukawa and Hanamakki, Suga’s mind supplied him.

Oikawa quickly slipped him back in the pocket just in time so the three others wouldn’t see him. The four students made their way to school. Their conversation was loud and high energy. Every few minutes they would make fun of Oikawa, who would in turn clutch at his chest dramatically.

After Matsukawa and Hanamakki, who Oikawa called Mattsun and Makki, teamed up on Oikawa and Iwaizumi refused to defend him. Oikawa threw his arms up and shouted, “Why are you guys so mean to me!”. His tone was childish and his lips were twisted in a pout.

Mattsun stopped, looking at where Oikawa’s blazer had flown open. Suga cursed in his head and ducked, but his ears were still sticking out of the pocket.

“Dude, do you have a cat?” Mattsun asked.

Iwaizumi had a look on his face that screamed “Lord give me strength”. He looked like he was holding himself back from committing homicide, and asked as calmly as he could muster, “You brought the kitten?”

Makki bent over laughing. He stumbled almost, falling over as he was pushed out of the way, so Iwaizumi could get to Oikawa, who had an extremely guilty face.

Mattsun was also laughing, but he was better at concealing his mirth than Makki, who looked one second from rolling around on the ground.

“I couldn’t leave him at home, Iwa chan! He would’ve been lonely!” Oikawa protested before Iwaizumi could throttle him.

“You can’t bring it to school! What if you get suspended, Shittykawa. As much as I hate to admit it, the team needs you” Iwaizumi now had a hand slapped on his forehead.

Oikawa was now holding Suga out in front of Iwaizumi like a peace offering or a sacrifice, Suga couldn’t tell.

Makki had now recovered from his laughing fit and made his way over to Oikawa with Mattsun.

“Awww, he’s so cute. What’s his name?” Mattsun said, a giddy expression made its way onto his face.

“Milkbread” Oikawa said with a wide smile.

“Come on, Iwaizumi. They wouldn’t suspend this dumbass. Anyways he’d be super late if he went back to his house now” Makki added.

“You seriously think he should take the cat to school” Iwaizumi could not comprehend that Makki and Mattsun were agreeing with their dumbass of a friend.

“Iwa chan! Look how cute he is” Oikawa did his best puppy eyes at Iwaizumi, who rolled his eyes.

“Fine, but it’s not my fault if you get in trouble”

During the rest of the walk, Suga was passed between all the boys. All of whom were surprisingly gentle for teenage boys.

“Oh wait! I haven’t shown you the best part” Oikawa conspiratorially smiled at each of them in turn. 

“Oh no”

“Mean, Iwa chan!” Oikawa protested. “Look. Milkbread, meow if you understand me”

Suga smirked internally. He continued to purr, but did not meow. Messing with Oikawa was just too easy.

“You’ve been watching too many conspiracy theory movies, Stupidkawa. Cat’s don’t know Japanese”

“Rude, Iwa chan! He told me he could understand me yesterday,” Oikawa replied with a frown. “And they’re documentaries! Not movies!”

“Sure thing,” Makki said, smirking.

Mattsun raised his eyebrows playfully, but didn’t comment.

“Why don’t you guys believe me!”

“You believe in all sorts of stupid shit. Why should we believe you with no proof?” Iwaizumi said.

Oikawa was stubbornly silent until they made it to school. The other three let him be, and continued their conversation. 

They were a few minutes early, and Iwaizumi walked over to a vending machine, leaving the other three behind. When he walked back, he handed Oikawa a package of milkbread, as a silent apology.

Oikawa gasped happily, and threw himself at Iwaizumi, dramatically yelling his thanks. He immediately stole Suga from where he was perched in Mattsun’s arms, shouting about how he should meet his namesake.

Oikawa ripped open the package and tore a small corner off the mini loaf, and held it in front of Suga’s nose.

“Is that safe for cats?” Makki asked.

“It’s not that much, it should be fine, right?” Oikawa looked to Iwaizumi for confirmation, who shrugged.

Suga took the piece of bread from Oikawa’s fingers. He closed his eyes at the taste. It had nothing of spicy mapo tofu, but it was very good.

When it was time for class to start, Oikawa put him back in his pocket after telling him to stay quiet and be a good Milkbread.

Suga didn’t actually want Oikawa to get in trouble, so he stayed quiet and silent throughout the day. It was a little boring, but it was definitely better than being locked in Oikawa’s room all day. This way he at least got pets when no one was looking, and he also got a few snacks throughout the day that Oikawa stuck into his pocket for him.

He also could also eavesdrop on conversations. He didn’t get any good blackmail, unfortunately, but it was interesting to see how the Seijoh third years acted outside of a match. Oikawa was made fun of much more than Suga thought he would allow. The insults were never actually hurtful, and Okawa seemed to know that, but he had always seemed like someone who would only interact with people who treated him like a king.

After class, Oikawa walked to Seijoh’s gym with the other third years. Once they had changed, they made their way onto the court. They weren’t even trying to hide Suga anymore. Iwaizumi was holding him this time. He was trying his best to look grumpy, but broke when Suga rubbed his head against Iwaizumi’s chest, purring.

He had found that making Iwaizumi swoon and coo was almost as fun as messing with Oikawa.

Their coach was on the phone, and would periodically whisper to their advising teacher. Both of them looked serious and slightly frantic.

As the other members of the team entered, they shot questioning looks at their seniors. Their coach and teacher hadn’t even acknowledged their presence yet.

They were about to start to warm up, but their advising teacher running over to them stopped them. He had a look of barely contained panic on his face.

“We are cancelling practice for today,” He said, voice quivering slightly.

“What? Why?” Oikawa asked.

On the other side of the gym, their coach hung up the phone.

“I want to talk to you all- Is that a cat?” Their coach called.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry” Oikawa said, rubbing the back of his neck and taking Suga from Iwaizumi.

The coach dismissed this. They had much more important things to talk about.

“Have any of you seen Sugawara Koushi, Karasuno’s number 2, in the past day?”

Suga froze in Oikawa’s hold. Should he do something? No, they probably wouldn’t understand, and he couldn’t risk Oikawa giving him up if he thought his cat was acting weird. Also what would he even do? Meow loudly? Run around?

The team had confused looks on their faces, and they all shook their heads.

Their coach sighed in disappointment. “He’s missing. No one has seen him since school yesterday, which is apparently very unlike him. The authorities have been notified, but are refusing to do anything”

The teens all had varying degrees of surprise and distress on their faces.

“Uh coach,” Oikawa started. “Why were we told about this? It just seems kind of weird, like, none of us know him, and Karasuno is kind of far away”

“About that, his school bag was found just down the road”

“But that’s about a two hour walk from Karasuno!” one of the team members shouted.

“Yeah and it was raining yesterday”

“Why would he come over here?”

“Everyone calm down!” Their teacher commanded. “We know this is distressing and confusing, but please, just try to stay calm and keep yourselves safe. If he was kidnapped, the attacker could be looking for other victims, so try not to walk home alone”

They were permitted to leave after a few of the teams questions were answered with solemn “We don’t knows”

The four third years walked home in silence. Their minds were too full of running thoughts. It seemed surreal that someone their age had…. they didn’t even know what had happened to him.

They all unanimously agreed silently that they would walk to each member's house together, so they wouldn’t be walking alone.

Oikawa and Iwaizumi were the last two left. Iwaizumi’s house was the next one they reached.

“Stay safe, Shittykawa” Iwaizumi had a concerned look on his face.

“Don’t worry, Hajime. I’ll be fine” Oikawa rarely used Iwaizumi’s given name, and both of them smiled at it.

Oikawa turned around, clutching at Suga. 

Suga didn't know how to feel. He was glad everyone had actually realized he was gone. It was a stupid fear, he knew, but he still had been worried that no one would even realize he was gone. He was also guilty that he had worried everyone when he was pretty much fine if you disregarded the fact that he was a kitten with no idea how to turn back into a human.

“Hey Milkbread” Suga looked at Oikawa. He looked like he was holding back tears. He really didn’t think himself going missing would have a large impact on Oikawa, but oh well. “I’m really worried about Mr. Refreshing. I really hope he’s ok”

Tears were now actually pouring down Oikawa’s cheeks, and he was holding Suga just a little bit too tightly.

“Mr. Refreshing” Suga thought. ”Must be his nickname for me”. Suga didn’t even think Oikawa knew who he was with Kageyama being the starting setter. 

Clearly Oikawa’s personality wasn’t the only thing he’d gotten wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might actually have to make 5 chapters instead of the 4 I planned. This one was a lot longer than I thought it would be, and I want to make a chapter from Karasuno's perspective. 
> 
> If you found any mistakes, please tell me!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karasuno's version of Suga's second day missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day!!! Also I'm sorry. This chapter is sad :(

Daichi woke up the day after Suga’s mom had called him and immediately checked his phone. 

He had one text message.

He felt his heart race then immediately plummet when he saw it was from Suga’s mother, and not Suga himself.

She had texted him to tell him that Suga was still missing. His best friend was still missing.

He started planning on how to break it to the team as gently as he could. Of course, He had already told Asahi and Kiyoko, them being Suga’s other closest friends.

He had also told coach Ukai and Takeda sensei in the hopes that they knew something. Neither of them had seen Suga since practice yesterday.

He got ready for school on autopilot. His eyes were glazed and his mind was blank. He knew if he started thinking, he wouldn’t be able to stop.

He texted the Karasuno group chat to tell them that morning practice was cancelled today; coach Ukai could tell how much Daichi was panicking on their phone call, and insisted he needed a break from practice.

His phone dinged when confused text messages came through. He ignored them. He didn’t want to explain the situation over text.

His walk to school was lonely without meeting up with Suga halfway through. He forced himself not to stop when he passed the corner where Suga usually stood waiting for him. He knew if he was there for too long, he would break down again.

When he got to school, he found Kiyoko and Asahi sitting under a large tree. They looked up.

“You look terrible”

“Wow. Thanks, Asahi”

“Sorry, Daichi! I didn’t mean it like that” Asahi was quick to try and placate Daichi. He really had not meant it as an insult, he was just worried for his friend.

“I know you didn’t mean it like that. And for the record, you look terrible as well” Daichi said, attempting to smile, but only getting a forced looking grimace on his lips.

“I couldn’t sleep last night. I kept thinking about all the bad things that could’ve happened to Suga. Like-”

Kiyoko slapped a hand over Asahi’s mouth, giving him a pointed look. “Let’s not talk about that, please”

Once her hand was removed, Asahi responded, looking to the ground.

“Yeah, sorry”

“It’s ok, Asahi. I’m sure we’re all thinking about it”

None of them could bring themselves to start a new conversation, so they just sat in awkward silence until they needed to get to class.

None of them shared their first class, so they parted ways with silent goodbyes. Daichi made his way to the class he was supposed to share with Suga. He stopped in the doorway for a few seconds, staring at the empty chair next to his own.

That was Suga’s seat.

He swallowed even though his mouth had gone dry, and picked through the desks and sat down at his own delicately. 

His heart felt like it was beating too fast and too slow at the same time. Some part of him had thought that Suga would just show up to class like normal.

He would give Daichi a sunny smile and an enthusiastic wave, and Daichi would scold him for scaring everyone.

Of course, Daichi knew this wouldn’t happen, but he couldn’t stop himself from hoping.

His eyes avoided Suga’s seat during the whole class. He couldn’t stop bouncing his knee, and frantically looking to the door. He knew he was getting weird looks from his classmates, but he just couldn’t stop.

The school day seemed to pass excruciatingly slow, but it also passed in a flash. If someone had asked him about any of the topics they’d covered in class, he probably wouldn’t be able to tell them one. His motivation for paying attention had disappeared just like Suga.

After his last class, Daichi trudged his way to the gym. He really wasn’t looking forward to telling his team that their vice captain was missing. 

Even though he was dragging his feet the whole way, Daichi was the first in the gym. He began setting up the gym as best he could without anyone else's help.

He had only just dragged the net out of the closet when both Takeda sensei and coach Ukai walked in.

“Hey kid, how are you doing?” coach Ukai asked him before thinking better of it. “Never mind, stupid question. Don’t answer that”

Daichi just nodded, and quietly thanked Takeda sensei when he walked over to help with the net.

It was almost fully up when Daichi’s phone started ringing. He almost dropped the side of the net he was putting up, but stopped himself. He quickly finished fastening the net, and looked at his phone.

The caller was Suga’s mother.

He hit the accept button as fast as he could, ignoring the questioning looks from coach Ukai and Takeda sensei.

“Sugawara san?”

He saw his coach and teacher exchange startled looks out of the corner of his eye, and continued to ignore them.

“Daichi kun” Suga’s mother sounded like she’d been recently crying. Daichi’s mind immediately assumed the worst. He pictured a body bag floating in a river, Suga tied up in a basement, a body on an examining table at a morgue. “We found Suga’s bag”

Daichi’s mind stopped creating horrifying images. Suga wasn’t dead, or, at least, he wasn’t confirmed as dead yet.

“Where?” His voice was croaky, but he didn’t care. He just needed to know everything Suga’s mother could tell him.

She repeated a street name to him. He furrowed his brow. That wasn’t anywhere near Karasuno. “That’s by Aoba Johsai, isn’t it?”

“What? Oh, the school? I believe so. Do you have any idea why he would be over there, Daichi kun?”

“No, I’m sorry Sugawara san. I don’t know why he would be there”

“Well, thank you anyways. Please take care of yourself and your teammates”

“I will,” Daichi responded. He felt a little bit dizzy. Suga’s mother was just as kind and considerate as Suga himself. Her son was missing, and she was worrying about her son's friends. Daichi was struck with another bolt of guilt.

Once Sugawara san hung up, Daichi left his own little world. The rest of the team had arrived. He was faced with uneasy looks from everyone in the gym. Was it so obvious he was upset?

He shot Takeda sensei an unsure look. He got a nod in return. Well, here goes nothing-

“Daichi san? Where’s Suga san?” Hinata’s words hit him like a throwing knife.

Daichi’s eyes were wide. He was frozen in place. It took a monumental effort for him to form words.

“He’s…. missing?”

He had phrased it like a question, but it didn’t take away from the impact of the words.

Everyone except the adults, Asahi, and Kiyoko stood completely still for a few seconds, processing. Then everyone burst out at the same time.

“What do you mean he’s missing?”

“Is he ok?”

“This isn’t a joke, right?”

“WHAT?”

Only one voice could be heard above the din. “Everyone please be quiet!” Takeda sensei shouted. He was never that loud.

All the yelling immediately stopped. Takeda sensei gestured back at Daichi to continue speaking.

“No one has heard from him since practice yesterday. We don’t know anything except… except- I just got a call from his mother-” Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, waiting for the new information. “She said that his bag was found”

He heard a sharp inhale from Asahi.

“Where was it?” Ennoshita asked quietly.

“That’s the weird thing. It was found down the road from Seijoh” Daichi responded.

“Why would Suga san go there?” Hinata piped up. He had a confused look on his face that was shared by most of the people in the gym.

Daichi really didn’t want to tell Hinata that maybe Suga hadn’t gone there on purpose, that he was maybe forced there, so he just stayed quiet.

“Uh coach?” Yamaguchi asked. He looked extremely nervous, and was curling in on himself slightly. “Should we call someone at Seijoh? Maybe they know something?”

Ukai blinked. He hadn’t thought of that. “Good idea, Yamaguchi”

Takeda sensei nodded and walked outside the gym to call Seijoh’s coach.

“Do all of you want to do practice today, or just go home?” Ukai asked.

“I think having practice would help keep everyone’s minds away from Suga,” Kiyoko added quietly. She was looking down at her shoes, tears silently dripping from her cheeks.

“That’s a good idea, Kiyoko,” Tanaka said gently. There were no flirtations in his words. He was just trying to show her his support.

“Yeah, I agree,” Noya said, also keeping the usual attempt at coyness out of his tone.

She sent them both shaky smiles, and they returned them.

“Ok,” Ukai clapped his hands together. “Let’s start warm up”

No one performed nearly as well as normal, but neither Takeda sensei nor coach Ukai commented.

Daichi was watching his team closely. They seemed to be handling the situation in two ways.

He was part of the first group. He had no energy. He felt like he was going to faint after the easiest of drills. His serves and spikes had almost no power. Some didn’t even make it over the net.

The other people who had the same problems were Tanaka, Noya, Ennoshita, and Tsukishima.

The others seemed to have too much energy, but couldn’t control it. Kageyama kept putting too much power into his sets. They would be in the wrong place and no one could hit them. When they were able to be hit, Hinata spiked them erratically. Most of his balls would be caught by the net or would go out of bounds.

Asahi was having the same problem. One of his spikes almost hit Tanaka straight in the face. Asahi profusely apologized after, but he still couldn’t reign in his too powerful serves and spikes.

The one who was most surprising was Yamaguchi. He completely ignored his float serve, and just tried to hit the ball as hard as he possibly could. When one of his balls didn’t make it in bounds, he stomped on the ground aggressively, and tried to stalk out of the gym. Tsukishima put a hand on his shoulder, trying to stop him, but Yamaguchi gave him the most hateful glare he could muster, and continued on his way out of the gym.

Tsukishima stood, rooted to the spot, with an uncharacteristic look of surprise on his face.

“Let’s keep going!” coach Ukai called, and everyone stopped staring at where Tsukishima was rooted to the spot.

Yamaguchi came back in a few minutes later, looking like a kicked puppy. He muttered a quiet apology, and ran over to the bench saying he didn’t feel like continuing to play.

The rest of practice ended with no more notable events. Coach Ukai dismissed them without his usual ending speech. If anyone had seen tears sparkling in his eyes, they didn’t mention it. They themselves were trying to hide their own tears, anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to finish the story tomorrow! Comments are very much appreciated :D


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter!!! I hope everyone likes it <3

When Oikawa closed his bedroom door behind him, he pulled Suga from the inside pocket of his blazer. If his mother found out he’d taken a kitten to school….. He didn’t even want to know.

He’d pulled himself together before he stepped inside the house. He didn’t want to talk about how red his eyes were from crying.

He doesn’t really know Mr. Refreshing, but his disappearance was affecting him greatly.

He remembered watching him sitting on the bench during their practice game. He had been replaced by Kageyama, but Oikawa couldn’t detect any tension between them. Yes, He had looked slightly dejected, but he made sure to hide that when he was talking to Tobio chan.

He was flabbergasted at how mature he’d been. How could he just brush off being replaced by a first year? Oikawa felt an old feeling bubble up in his chest again.

It was the feeling he’d had about Mr. Refreshing the first time he had seen him at that practice game.

He used to think it was jealousy. Jealousy at how much of a good person Sugawara Koushi was. He was now realizing he’d misdiagnosed that emotion. He had been very wrong.

He admired Mr. Refreshing.

It was uncommon for Oikawa to be impressed by someone. Him being fascinated by someone was very common, but looking up to someone? Not so much.

And now he was missing.

Oikawa could barely process the situation with his spinning head.

The calm and collected setter was gone. He always seemed to have perfect control over everything, and now his perfect town could be a crime scene painted with his blood.

Not his town, he reminded himself. His bag had been found near Seijoh. 

He was pulled from his mind by tiny claws digging into his chest.

He looked down to see large hazel eyes turned onto him with concern. A strangled, questioning meow made him blink before he realized he was clutching at the kitten harshly.

“Oh! I’m sorry Milkbread”

He lightened his hold, and the fragile body relaxed.

“I just can’t believe someone I know is missing. We only met like once, and we didn’t even talk one on one, but it still feels like I know him, you know?”

Suga looked back at Oikawa’s face again. He was getting more and more confused the longer he was around Oikawa. What about him would be memorable to the Great King?

Oikawa set him down, and began frantically searching through a box of tapes. He pulled one out with a small “aha!”

Suga furrowed his brows and sat next to Oikawa looking at the screen he was holding. It was playing a video of their practice game. The video was shaky, and didn’t stay on the court the whole time. He could hear talking in the background. It seemed like Oikawa had one of his benched team members take a video for him.

He fast forwarded until a clear shot of the Karasuno bench was in the corner of the video. He zoomed in, so Suga took up most of the frame. He was smiling so wide that his eyes were closed, and he seemed to be having a conversation with Yamaguchi.

Oikawa pulled his knees up to his chest as he sat on the floor. He just stared at the frozen image. He seemed to be in his own world. Suga couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He had an expression on his face that Suga had never seen him wear before. 

It was frightening.

Suga walked in front of the screen, breaking Oikawa’s eye contact with Suga’s immobilized face. He put his front paws on Oikawa’s knees, making them face to face. He meowed insistently, trying to sound scolding.

His attempts worked to bring Oikawa to the present. He turned off the screen, and smiled at the kitten.

“Sorry, Milkbread. Iwa chan doesn’t like when I watch those things either”. His face looked happy, but his words were shaky. He moved so he was leaning against the bed with his legs crossed underneath him. 

Suga took the opportunity to crawl into his lap. Because of his slightly reclined position, Suga was able to rest his head on Oikawa’s chest. 

Even if he didn’t fully understand why Oikawa was reacting so badly to his disappearance, he still wanted to try to help.

When he felt Oikawa’s shaky hands stroke through his short fur, he let out comforting purrs that reverberated from Suga’s chest into Oikawa’s.

They stayed like that for who knows how long. The only sounds were Suga’s purrs and Oikawa’s off tune humming.

Suga was almost asleep when Oikawa spoke.

“Thank you, Milkbread. Iwa chan thinks I’m being stupid, but I really do feel like you understand me. You always know how to make me feel better.” He smiled down at the innocent face of the kitten staring at him sleepily.

He leaned down to give the kitten a sweet kiss on the forehead.

Suga felt the gentle pressure of lips, and closed his eyes. When he opened them, his vision was blurry. 

He felt dizzy, and pushed his face into Oikawa’s chest to try to ground himself. It didn’t feel like the room was spinning; it felt like he was spinning.

He felt an odd sense of Deja Vu, but his mind was so boggled, he couldn’t figure out when he’d felt like this before.

He felt Oikawa shift slightly, and dug his claws into his shirt, trying to tell him to stop moving. He heard Oikawa’s voice, but it sounded like he was underwater.

His vision faded to black, and his small form went limp.

When he woke a few seconds later, his head was pounding. He opened his eyes to find that his vision had cleared.

He was nose to nose with Oikawa.

Oikawa’s eyes were wide and his mouth was gaping open. He tried to move back, but he was squashed between Suga and his bed frame. 

“WHA-”

Suga realized when he had felt like that before. It was right before he had transformed into a kitten.

“I’m back!” A grin made its way onto Suga’s face, but dropped immediately when Oikawa’s face just got more horrified, and turned bright red.

It was then that Suga realized their… compromising position. 

Suga was straddling Oikawa’s lap, and their faces were extremely close together.

“Are you an alien?” Oikawa shouted, far too loud for their proximity.

“No? Why would I be an alien?” Suga responded with an astonished face.

“You- Cat? M-Milkbread?”

Suga put a hand on the back of his head and looked away. “Uh, yeah. I don’t know either”

“Wait, wait, wait. You weren’t actually brutally murdered?” Oikawa looked relieved for a second before a dumbfounded look made its way onto his face. “How did you turn into a cat?”

“I was just walking home yesterday, and then I got really dizzy and I felt super weird. I think I passed out? Then I was a cat.”

“But your bag? It was found down the road from Aoba Johsai?”. Suga personally thought Oikawa was taking this too well. He had already recovered from his initial shock enough to have a conversation with Suga. It was probably all the conspiracy theory documentaries.

“I guess I got lost? It was really hard to pay attention to where I was going because I felt so… off? I don’t know how to describe it. I probably accidentally walked all the way over there”

“And then I found you”

“And then you found me,” Suga repeated.

They sat in awkward silence, trying to not make eye contact with each other.

Suga’s face started burning when he realized he had not moved off of Oikawa’s lap for the whole conversation. His hands had even traveled to Oikawa’s shoulders. He tried to move back, but stopped when he realized the others arms were locked around his waist.

They both noticed at the same time, and their eyes snapped to each other, but they quickly looked away. They both muttered apologies, and Suga finally moved to sit next to Oikawa instead.

They awkwardly sat next to each other in silence for a few minutes. Their shoulders brushed with every inhale, but neither moved.

“What are you going to tell people? There’s a lot of people worried about you” Oikawa bit his lip, trying to stave off the crimson that threatened to rush to his neck and ears.

Neither of them acknowledged that Oikawa was one of the people who was worried about him. They both knew that the other knew, but they wanted to keep this conversation from getting more awkward than it already was.

“I really don’t know. Maybe I’ll just call my mom and wing it?” Suga responded. He leaned his head back against the bed behind him, and looked at the ceiling.

“Good idea. I’ll probably just tell everyone Milkbread ran away.” Oikawa said.

He reached into his pocket for his phone, but stilled when he realized he didn’t have his bag or any of his other possessions.

“I don’t have my phone”

Oikawa stood up and walked to his desk. He tossed Suga his phone.

Suga smiled at the alien patterned case. He quickly dialed his mothers number. He took a deep breath, praying that his mother picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Mom?” Suga asked nervously.

Suga’s mother almost dropped the phone.

“Koushi? Is that really you?” she said as she felt tears of relief burn at her eyes. 

“Yeah it’s me. I’m ok. Please don’t worry”

“What happened? Where are you?” she frantically asked. She needed to see her son as soon as possible.

“I’m with a… friend?” Suga looked to Oikawa, who shrugged. “I don’t want to talk about it right now, if that’s ok?”

“Yeah, Koushi. That’s fine. As long as you come back safe”

“I’ll be home soon. I just want to call Daichi first”

“Please do that. He’d very worried about you”

“I will. I love you, mom” He said it quietly, hoping Oikawa wouldn’t hear the personal sentiment. Oikawa was pretending to not pay attention, but they both knew he was listening in.

“I love you too, Koushi”

Suga’s mother hung up, and Suga sighed. That hadn’t been nearly as bad as he thought it would be. He knew his mother wouldn’t pry as long as he was safe, but he didn’t know if his friends would also be fine with not knowing what had happened to Suga during his 24 hours missing.

“Did it go well?” Oikawa asked like he hadn’t been listening in.

“Yeah. I think I won’t have to explain what happened to her”

“That’s good. I don’t feel like being locked up in an insane asylum with you for the rest of our lives” Oikawa said as he laid down in the middle of his floor, spread eagled.

“Well, we still might have to. I’ve got to call Daichi next”

“Do you really need to call Captain kun? Why not just wait until tomorrow?” Oikawa asked, a manicured brow raised.

“Unless you want him to actually murder me, I’ve got to call him”

“Well, good luck. I’ve already got his number in there, actually”

Suga went to Oikawa’s contacts, and sure enough, ‘Captain Kun (Karasuno)’ was a contact. “Why do you have his number?”

“Dunno. He thought all the captains should have each other's numbers. We’ve never texted or called, though”

“Seems like something Daichi would do,” Suga mumbled, absentmindedly.

He pressed the call button on Daichi’s contact. Somehow, waiting for Daichi to pick up was more stressful than waiting for his mom to pick up.

Maybe it was because of how Daichi could weasel information out of him, or maybe it was that he knew the call would pop up under Oikawa’s name, but Suga’s heart would not stop racing.

The call was connecting.

“What do you want?” Daichi’s gruff and annoyed voice said.

“Daichi?” Suga said in a meek voice.

There was silence on the other end of the call. Suga was about to ask if he was still there when Daichi responded.

“Suga? Is that you?” Daichi’s voice cracked. It sounded like he was about to cry.

Suga’s heart immediately dropped. He knew what to expect from his mom, but he never imagined that his best friend would cry over him.

“Yeah, Daichi. It’s me. Please don’t worry, I’m fine”

“What the hell, Suga!” Daichi shouted.

Suga winced and held the phone away from his ear because of the blaring noise from the phone. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare everyone.”

“No, no. Don’t apologize. I shouldn’t have yelled. Are you ok?”

“Yeah I’m fine” Suga said looking at the ground.

“Why do you have Oikawa’s phone?” Daichi asked, sounding halfway to blaming Oikawa for Suga’s disappearance.

“He found me? I guess.” Suga looked to Oikawa again. It wasn’t really a lie, but it also wasn’t really the truth either. “He let me borrow his phone because I don’t have mine”

“Yeah, someone found your bag by Aoba Johsai. Your mom has it right now. Why were you over there?”

Their conversation was getting into dangerous territory. “I don’t really want to talk about it”

“Suga-”

“Daichi, please. I don’t want to talk about it” His words were sharper than he had intended, but they had the effect Suga was looking for.

The click of Daichi’s jaw snapping shut was audible over the phone. “Ok, Suga. You don’t have to talk about it”

“Thank you. Can you tell everyone I’m not dead?” He tried to make his words humorous, but they just served to remind both of them that Suga had been missing.

“Yeah I’ll do that. Please stay safe, Suga”

“I will”

Suga handed Oikawa his phone back after the call was terminated. Oikawa pushed it back at him. Suga furrowed his brow in confusion.

“Could I get your number?” He looked at his shoes, and his ears were scarlet. “You know, so we can talk about what happened with someone who won’t call the mental hospital”

Suga smiled at him sweetly. An unfamiliar feeling bubbled up into his chest, and he had a light blush on his pale cheeks. “Sure”

He typed his number in, and sent himself a text message.

When Oikawa was handed back his phone, he stared at the new number for a second, before glancing back up at Suga.

“Thanks, uh, Sugawara san?” 

He would normally call his peers something too familiar and maybe a little demeaning, but he wanted to make a good impression on Suga. He couldn’t really pinpoint why, but he wanted to make sure he didn’t accidentally insult him.

“Suga is fine. Don’t be so formal. I was your pet cat for a day, after all!” Suga laughed quietly.

“Only if you call me Tooru” 

Both of them seemed surprised by the words that came out of Oikawa’s mouth. Oikawa’s eyes widened, and his cheeks flushed when he realized what he had said.

Suga recovered from his shock first, and stepped up to Oikawa.

“Well, I’ll talk to you later, Tooru” He said sweetly, and went on his tippy toes to place a chaste kiss on Oikawa’s cheek. 

Oikawa went even more scarlet, which he hadn’t thought was possible.

“Goodbye, Suga chan” Oikawa said, not wanting to be the only one caught off guard by flirtations.

Suga turned, hiding the way his face had twisted in a smile.

When he returned to his home, he was greeted with his tearful mother and many hugs. They sat on the ground in the middle of their house, just holding each other for hours.

Everything was finally ok.

At morning practice the next day, he was at the center of a group hug. He answered all of their questions as vaguely as he could. When asked what had happened directly, he just announced that he didn’t want to talk about it.

He knew that his response probably wouldn’t hold up forever, but by the time people demanded a better explanation, he would probably have a good cover story. For now, his lack of response was met with understanding nods, which he was grateful for.

The rest of the day proceeded as normal, unless you count Suga blushing as his phone dinged from a text message. 

When Hinata asked who he was texting, he just shrugged and smiled at the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I write Princess and the Frog but gay volleyball?  
> Yes  
> Did I have a great time writing it?  
> Also yes.
> 
> I'm thinking about writing a sequel! Let me know if that's something you'd be interested in.
> 
> UPDATE: I posted the sequel if you want to check it out💖

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone liked it! Please tell me what you think in the comments. <3
> 
> I'll try to post regularly, but I don't have a set schedule.


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